Door opening and closing device



V. SCHILDWACHTER.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

APPL CA ION FILED FEB, 27, 1919.

l ,354, 1 35 Patented Sept. 28', 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

I ,I I I I I II I I I II II "I I :l I :I I I lllllgllll r [Prue/Navi- V. SCHILDWACHTER.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27, I919- Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

VALENTINE SCHILDWACHIER, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALENTINE SOHILD WAOHTER, a citizen of the United States, residin at eoria, in the county of Peoria and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Opening and Closing Devices; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

i This invention relates to mechanism for opening and closing the double doors of garages, fire stations and other buildings where a door opener can be used to advantage.

The main object is to provide a mechanism including a power elebment by which, when set in motion, the dou le doors can be opened or closed quickly and positively.

Another object is to provide a mechanism for a door opener which when set in motion will automatically move the doors to the opened or closed position and automatically stop when either of such positions is reached.

The invention includes certain details of construction and arrangement of parts as will be clearly set 'forth in the specification and the appended drawings showing one embodiment, it being understood that changes 'may be made without departing from the spirit and intent of the invention.

Figure 1' is a plan of the wall and double hinged doors of a building showing my invention connected therewith.

' Figs. 1* and 1 are modifications of the same.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a Wall and partof a door showing art of the invention in connection therewitli, this figure being produced on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a pipe and certain other parts entering into the invention.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of part of an opcrating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the operating mechanism, and

Fig. 6 is a plan of the same.

he invention includes a structure disposed above the doors to be operated and extending perpendicular to the plane of the wall in which the doors are placed. Such structure has a movable part operatively Specification of Letters Patent.

-other ends Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

Application filed February 27, 1919. Serial No. 279,477.

such as an electric motor, for example, the

latter being chosen since electric circuits are quite common to nearly all locations whether of the cities or of the rural districts.

1 indicates one of the walls of the building and'2. double doors adapted to swing either inwardly or outwardly. In the present instance they are shown swinging in wardly. 3 is a pipe suitably supported above the meeting place of the doors, and mainly within the building but extending partially outside the same. It is slotted throughout-its length on its lower side at 4, Figs. 2 and 3, and slidable Within it is a rod or pipe 5. At one end the said rod or pipe has a depending pin or stud 6 to which is loosely attached a pair of arms 7 whose are separately pivoted to one.of the doors 2 brackets 8, for example, Fig. 1.

The opposite end of the rod or pipe 5 has a similar depending stud 8 to which is loosely attached one end of a pitman 9 which, in turn, is attached to a crank-arm 10 carried in a suitable vertically disposed bearing 11 mounted on a support 12 on which one end of the pipe 3 may be supported, Fig. 5.

The crank-arm is adapted to rotate in said bearing and is adapted to impart longitudinal movement to the rod or pipe 5 within the pipe 3. Said crank-arm is of a length, between centers, substantially equal to the distance the rod or pipe 5 is to travel to fully open or close the doors, the path of 'movement of the connected ends of the crank-arm and pitman being shown at the dotted circle a, Fig. 1. The shaft of the crank-arm has affixed thereto a worm-wheel 13 and a shaft 14 extending vertically from the latter has a bearing in any suitable support 15 for firmly holding the said worm- Wheel during operation.

16 is a pair of spaced members mounted n the support 12 for example, in which a shaft 17 of a worm 18 has its bearings, the worm adapted to have drivin engagement with the worm-wheel. Said shaft carries a pinion-gear 19 in mesh with a gear 20 on the worm-shaft 17, and a pulley 21 is belted to the pulley of a motor 22 Fig. 1. 23 is an electric switch of the kni e type, for convenience, suitably mounted, and 24 is a lever to which the knife of the switch is attached.

Said lever is suitably mounted on a standard 25 for example. One arm of the lever carries a wheel or roller 25" beneath which a track 26 is adapted to rotate with the wormwheel. As shown in Fig. 6 the track is separated into two parts or halves spaced at their ends. 27 indicates the leads of an electric circuit with which the motor 22 and the switch 23 are connected in any usual way.

28 is a shaft suitably journaled vertically in the support 12, for example, the same having an arm 29 connected by a link 30 with the said lever 24. Said shaft has an arm 31 with which a wire or cable 32 may be connected extending outside the doors in convenient reach. B pulling upon the same, the lever 24, whlch is normally in its off position, its roller lying between the track portions, with the switch open, is moved to close the latter and start the motor to rotate the crank-arm. If the doors are. closed the point of connection of the crank-arm and pitman will lie at substan-- tially the point X, Fig. 1. Now, as the crank-arm moves around to the opposite position, the roller being supported on the track, the pi e or rod 5 will be drawn through the pipe 3 opening the doors to the position shown in broken lines in said Fig. 1. As the crank-arm and rod 5 complete their travel one of the spaces between the track portions will pass beneath the roller 25' letting that member down by gravity together with thelever 24 opening the motor-circuit. Gravity is suflicient to accomplish-the latter result although if desired means may be provided for assisting the movement.

To close the doors the switch may be again closed from a position within the building, or outside the same by the means described, whereupon the action is repeated, the movement being automatically terminated in the manner explained.

In order that the motor may have time to get into full rotation before actual workor load is placed upon it provision is made for a lost-motion action. That is to say, the shaft 17 is permitted to have considerable end shake in itsbearings 16. 33 is a crosshead secured on the shaft, being preferably a flat spring-like or flexible member. 34 is an arm pivotally mounted at one end on the support 12, for instance, and 35 is a rod connecting it with the arm 24. Now, as the crank-arm 1O approaches the end of its travel in closing or opening the doors, and the lever 24 breaks the circuit by opening the switch as ex lained, the said arm 34 is pushed forward into the path of said crosshead 33, Fig. 5. As the latter in its rotation strikes the arm, the motor circuit being open, it is caused to rebound turning the worm slightly in a direction opposite that which drives the worm-wheel. The rebound due to the flexibility of the cross-head removes the friction existing between the worm and worm-wheel. The pitman' and crank-arm which have been in motion up to the instant of the opening of the motorcircuit, naturally swing, by their momentum, past the center and in so doing the wormwheel through the worm shifts the shaft 17 in its hearings to a position where, when the motor is again placed in operation, the worm can rotate several turns before power is applied to the worm-wheel thus giving the motor perfectly free action untilits full speed is attained before the load is placed upon it. v y

Particularly where the motor is of the induction type 1t must have its full speed before the load is taken on.

The lost motion effect is obtained at the end of each closing or opening movement of the door, or at each one-half rotation of said crank-arm.

As the switch 23 is closed by moving the arm 24, the arm 34 is removed from the path of the cross-head 33 automatically so as not to interfere with the further rotation of the arts.

p The shaft 28 as shown'in Fig. 6 extends below the support 12 so that it may be readily reached and operated. The doors may thus be opened or closed from within the building as well as from any distant point outside the same.

Any type of power-may be employed and other ways of applying it may be resorted to, all being within the meaning of the invention and its claims.

The modification of the structure, shown in Figs. 1 and 1 admits of opening one of the doors 2 wider than the other when occasion demands. That is to say, it is often desirable to open one door wider'than the other in garages where cars are to be driven into close quarters or when some particular placing of the car iswanted. In order to provide for this a cross member 6 is rigidly secured to the rod or pipe 5, as shown in F i 1 to which a second member a is attac ed which may be shifted endwise theretached to the member I) instead of to the pin or stud 6. Either door may be swung wider than the other by a longitudinal adjustment of the member 0.

I claim:

1. In combination with a door, an apparatus for opening and closing the same including a rigid member extending perpendicularly to the plane of the closed door, a guide to direct the movement of the member, an arm pivoted at one end to the member and at its other end to the door, a crank-arm operatively connected to the member adapted in the movement thereof to open or close the door, an electric motor adapted to be set in operation including a circuit-breaker, a lever-arm in control of the latter, gearing interposed between the motor and the crankarm, and a track portion rotatable with the gearing adapted to hold the circuit-breaker closed through said lever-arm and also adapted to cause the circuit-breaker to be opened at a predetermined period in the movement of the crank-arm.

2. In combination with a door, an apparatus for opening and closing the same adaptedto be set in motion and including gearing adapted to automatically terminate motion when the door has been opened or closed, power means including with said gearing a worm and worm-wheel, the Worm adapted to have an appreciable endwise movement whereby the driving power applied thereto is permitted to attain full movement before the worm is engaged by it to operate the door operating parts.

3. Door opening and closing mechanism including in its construction a member to operate a door, a crank-arm connected thereto, a worm-wheel carrying said crank-arm, a power operatedworm engaging the wormwheel, a lost motion device including an arm rotatable with said worm, and a stop adapted to be brought into the path of the arm at a termination of rotation of the worm whereby the latter is made to take endwise movement with respect to said wormwheel.

4. In combination with a door, operating mechanism therefor including a member adapted for movement in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the closed door, an arm pivotally connected at its ends to the door and said member, a worm-wheel having a crank-arm, a pitman connecting the crank-arm and the said member, a worm, a

power member for driving it, said worm engaging the worm-wheel, a cam track rotated by said worm-wheel and separated at diametrically opposite positions into two parts .to form a recess at each said position, a device -for controlling the power member, a lever connected operatively to the said device and engaging the cam adapted to drop into either of said recesses, and a stop motion device comprising a part rotatable with the said worm and an arm linked to the described lever and moved by it into the path of the part to suddenly terminate the rotation of said worm, the movement of the lever simultaneously moving the device having control of the power member to terminate the driving relation thereof.

5. In combination with a door, operating mechanism therefor including a member adapted for movement in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the closed door, an arm pivotally connected at its ends to the door and said member, a worm-wheel having a crank-arm, a pitman connecting the crank-arm and the said member, a worm, a power member for driving it, said worm engaging the worm-wheel, the worm arranged to have an endwise movement in its support, a cam track rotated by said wormwheel and separated at diametrically opposite positions into two parts to form a recess at each said position, a device for controlling the power member, a lever connected operatively to the said device and engaging the cam adapted to drop into either of said recesses, and a stop motion device comprising a part rotatable with the said Worm and an arm linked to the described lever and moved by it into the path of the part to suddenly terminate the rotation of said worm, the movement of the lever simultaneously moving the device having control of the power member to terminate the driving relation thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VALENTINE SCHILDWACHTER.

Witnesses:

L. M. THURLOW, L. E. SUTHERLAND. 

